Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 29, 1998Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut; Hampden County, Hampshire County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 29, 1998, 5:49 PM EDT for Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut; Hampden County, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 46 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 29, 1998, 5:49 PM EDT (21:49 UTC)
Expired
May 29, 1998, 6:35 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Capitol Planning Region, CT, Hampden County, MA, Hampshire County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:48 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 29, 6:04 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50West Springfield, MA
May 29, 6:07 PM EDTHail 0.75Easthampton, MA
May 29, 6:10 PM EDTHail 0.88West Springfield, MA
May 29, 6:10 PM EDTHail 1Belchertown, MA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 29, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 119 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 156 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-198 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1241 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

578 
WUUS1 KBOS 292148 RRA
SVRBOS
CTC003-MAC013-015-292235-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
549 PM EDT FRI MAY 29 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN AND CENTRAL HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  HARTFORD COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT

* UNTIL 635 PM EDT

  THIS WARNING REPLACES THE PRIOR WARNING FOR HAMPSHIRE AND
  HAMPDEN COUNTY.

* AT 545 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM WILLIAMSBURG
  MASSACHUSETTS SOUTH TO COLEBROOK CONNECTICUT...MOVING SOUTHEAST
  AT 30 TO 40 MPH.

* TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  SPRINGFIELD AND HARTFORD WILL BE AFFECTED BY 630 PM.

THIS LINE OF STORMS HAS BEEN PRODUCING POCKETS OF DAMAGING WIND IN
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS STRONG ENOUGH TO KNOCK DOWN
TREES AND POWER LINES.  MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LJC/DRAG

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 29, 5:30 PM EDT, 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
530 PM EST MAY 29 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

505 PM     CHARLEMONT                MA   WIND DAMAGE
05/29/98   FRANKLIN                       TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN

GIRODO
Local storm report, May 29, 5:44 PM EDT, 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
545 PM EST MAY 29 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

505 PM     CHARLEMONT                MA   WIND DAMAGE
05/29/98   FRANKLIN                       TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN

530 PM     WALPOLE                   NH   WIND DAMAGE
05/29/98   CHESHIRE                       TREES DOWN

530 PM     WESTMORELAND              NH   WIND DAMAGE
05/29/98   CHESHIRE                       LARGE LIMBS DOWN

GIRODO

The office that day

Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 6:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOX42 min
May 29, 6:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXCapitol Planning Region62 min
May 29, 6:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXNortheastern Connecticut Planning Region62 min
May 29, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXHampden, Hampshire31 min
May 29, 5:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXFranklin29 min
May 29, 5:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester46 min
May 29, 6:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex, Worcester42 min
May 29, 6:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXEssex, Middlesex, Worcester62 min
May 29, 7:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXEssex, Norfolk, Suffolk44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1998Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Connecticut, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.